For years I've wondered who the person on the 1,000 yen note is. My curiosity doesn't last long though -- perhaps 3 seconds each time, as think "who IS this guy?". I then completely forget about the whole thing...

In today's Daily Yomiuri, there was a feature on a sculpture made of shredded 1,000 yen notes. The sculpture was of Hideyo Noguchi, a famous bacteriologist who died in 1928. It is this Noguchi who appears on the 1,000 yen note. Ah ha!

Happy.